Nexus

Last night we caught our first glimpse at Google’s upcoming launcher experience for this year’s upcoming Nexus smartphones, however we didn’t get an APK at the time. Thankfully an enthusiastic Nexus fan over on Google+ (post since deleted) has given us a copy of the launcher for your sideloading pleasure.

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Following news of the Nexus Launcher, the new wallpapers that will debut with this year’s Marlin and Sailfish Google devices have leaked (via Android Police). In addition to 15 static images, Google is also working on a number of new live wallpapers with varying animations and functions that will launch with the new Nexus devices.

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No one enjoys getting random, unwanted phone calls, especially on their mobile phone. Thankfully Google is doing something about it, at least for Nexus and Android One users. As long as caller ID is enabled on your device, Google will now give you a clear warning if an incoming call is potentially a spam call.

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In this week’s top stories: Our roundups of the best Android phones and best budget Android phones for July, Pokemon GO’s official release takes over the app charts, Android One launches in Japan, and much more. Head below for these and the rest of this week’s most shared stories.

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A few days ago we told you about a new render that is supposed to accurately depict the aesthetic of HTC’s upcoming Nexus handsets, and now a Redditor has taken those to the next level with some color. The new renders show the phone in red, white, silver, and black…

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According to a report this afternoon out of Android Police, Google is in the process of developing two new Android Wear devices with the company’s recently-announced “assistant” built in. The site’s “multiple sources” say that the watches will be launching sometime later this year (“after the new Nexus phones”), with one being more fully featured and physically larger than the other, more modest offering…

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Last week brought the first concrete rumors about possible specs for this year’s Nexus devices made by HTC — codenamed Sailfish and Marlin. Android Police now has details and the first renders of what the two devices will look like. This year’s phones will seemingly be made of metal with either a glass or plastic rear pane and interestingly only a ‘G’ logo in lieu of Nexus branding…

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It’s expected that Google will debut two new Nexus smartphones later this year, and now a week following the first leak spilling the specs for the smaller of the two devices, Android Police has published a list of specifications for the larger “Marlin” smartphone…

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There have been several reports over the last year mentioning Google’s interest in building a smartphone. Although the company does have its own Nexus program to showcase the best the Android platform has to offer (and, at least as was true at first, provide some baseline devices for developers), it still needs to somewhat compromise on hardware here and there by much less directly impacting the engineering process.

However, it looks like this may not remain the case for much longer, with a new report — once again — suggesting that Google plans to launch something much more home-grown than in years previous…

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In this week’s top stories: Specs for the rumored HTC ‘Sailfish’ Nexus device leak, more on the OnePlus 3, Google’s new Prompt two-factor feature, we review Sony’s Xperia X, and much more.

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Ever since the introduction of Material Design, its not-so-new company-wide design language, Google has changed a number of things — like, for instance, its logo — that have affected almost the entirety of its looks.

Most of them were particularly notable on Android — the software keys inside the navigation buttons, for instance, were aesthetically overhauled with Lollipop. But it looks like the company has another redesign of these buttons in mind for later this year…

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HTC is widely believed to be manufacturing this year’s Nexus devices. A number of leaks point to 5- and 5.5-inch devices codenamed Sailfish and Marlin, respectively. Today, a new rumor details the smaller device with specs that would make for a decent upgrade to the Nexus 5X (via Android Police).

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In this week’s top stories: Samsung unveiled new wearables and wireless earbuds this week as hints at the upcoming Galaxy Note 7 surfaced. We also had some more OnePlus 3 announcements and leaks ahead of an official launch, talk of Huawei manufacturing Googles’ next Nexus device, and an interview with Google’s Sundar Pichai discussing Nexus phones and a number of other topics. Head below for the handy links to these and our other top stories from this week. 
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It was just a few days ago that it seemed the Nexus Player had been discontinued, but now it looks like a slightly modified version of the device could be on its way. It doesn’t seem likely to be a “second generation” Nexus Player, but the device’s FCC listing has just received some minor updates — almost two years after it first launched…

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Rumors of an HTC-made Android Wear watch have been tossed around for more than a year now. Before Mobile World Congress last year, many thought that the company would finally launch its offering as it was rumored that the company had a wearable planned to be shown off. In reality, the company launched a fitness wearable made in partnership with Under Armour. That device never even hit the market.

Recently, well-respected leakster Evan Blass suggested that the long-awaited Android Wear offering from the company would finally launch the week of June 6th. Now, the same guy is pulling that claim, suggesting that HTC has delayed its wearable once again — to the fall…
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Google Photos 1.21 rolled out silently to Android devices this week without any new features. However, a teardown by Android Police reveals that Google is preparing to offer unlimited original quality photo and video backups for Nexus devices. Of course, this is not yet official, but such a feature would provide an even bigger incentive to buy a Google-branded device.

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As it often happens with new technologies — especially the ones that aim to replace fundamental, widely used parts of our digital devices — the early implementations are often challenged by a series of missteps and various other problems.

The latest concrete example of this is the promising-yet-troubled USB-C, which led to a few controversies as of late. However, it seems, with its latest G5 flagship, LG may be one of the few manufacturers that got it right (via gtrusted)…

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Starting with the Android N Developer Preview, Google began posting OTA images for devices in the program. It is faster than waiting for a staged roll out and less complicated than flashing a factory image that completely wipes data. Google has now posted (via Android Police) OTA images for all devices currently receiving monthly updates.

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A recent Lenovo reshuffle saw long time Motorola head Rick Osterloh leave Motorola. Now, Google (via Re/Code) has confirmed that it just hired Osterloh to lead a new hardware division that encompasses such product lines as Nexus, ATAP, and even Google Glass…

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Earlier this year, many rumors pointed to HTC working on two devices for Google with such features as 3D Touch. More rumors today from Evleaks and Android Police make it more likely that the Taiwanese manufacturer is indeed making this year’s Nexus devices.

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